Nice, I assume Holmes' powers of observation allow him to extricate himself from these situations; noticing the subtle discoloration of his tobacco, the slight shift of Watson's body as he gets ready to go for him, perhaps having removed Watson's scalpel and replaced it with another cigar of Watson's in anticipation of just such an attack.

I can hear James Mason moaning those lines too - curse you. It was poor wacky Sidney who got the art gig when his older brother suddenly died. Have you seen the edition of Study in Scarlet that Doyle's father illustrated? Holmes had a beard - and many of the illustration appear to be doodles.

To add: Heh - Heston's passing reminded me of seeing him as a real arch bloody bastard of Holmes in the Los Angeles production of "The Crucifer of Blood" ... the best thing about the show was that it had Jeremy Brett as a hunky Doctor Watson being the ladies' man. You'd have to catch the video version on TBS and imagine it with a better cast.